Small Bites

I got a call from Barbara Baitcher in Rockland, who is lamenting the fact that The Pita Bar — a kosher kiosk in the Palisades Center — has closed.

“It’s a big loss,” she says. Especially because there are so few kosher places around there.

Does anyone have any advice for her?

The carpet’s down; the wall coverings are up and the kitchen is installed. Sure, there’s construction equipment everywhere (I’ll show you photos tomorrow), but X20-Xaviars on the Hudson, chef Peter X. Kelly’s mammoth project on the Yonkers pier, will open to the public on June 12. (Make your reservations!)

I’ll go into more detail in the coming weeks, but here’s the initial scoop, from my story that will appear in Wednesday’s paper:

X20-Xaviars on the Hudson — the restaurant on the Yonkers pier that chef Peter X. Kelly has been working on for more than five years — will open June 12.
The restaurant takes up the entire second floor of the pier, and has expansive views of the Hudson — south to Manhattan and north to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Natural materials in warm tones make up the decor, which picks up themes from its setting: the Hudson River and the pier. Jon Beerman, whose paintings focus on the Hudson River, has painted five works for the restaurant, including a soaring vertical piece for the entrance.
The menu, which will be heavy on seafood, will feature Kelly’s modern cooking, which has roots in classic cuisine and is influenced by Asia. (It’s also got a bit of his sense of humor: Yonkers Shellfish Chowder, for example, is not made with fish from the Hudson.) X20 is a culmination of more than 20 years of Kelly’s career, and takes a little bit from each of his other restaurants, including the clubby charm of Restaurant X & Bully Boy Bar in Congers, the elegance of Xaviars at Piermont and casual bistro feel of the Freelance Cafe & Wine Bar in Piermont. The grand scale is similar to Kelly’s first restaurant, Xaviars at Garrison, which closed New Year’s Day in 2003.
X20-Xaviars on the Hudson, 71 Water Grant Way, Yonkers. 914-965-1111. www.xaviars.com.

We’re working on a story about the first whiskey made in New York state since before prohibition. It comes to us from a little place in Gardiner, N.Y. called Tuthilltown Spirits.

Gardiner is in Ulster County, a little more than an hour north of Rockland, next to an adorable old Gristmill that is on the National Register of Historic Places:

The mill has been around since 1788. Until Tuthilltown Spirits bought it, the mill was used to grind kosher flour out of matzo. Before that, it was a regular flour mill.

Here’s a painting of it Ralph found in the barn:

Wow! You might think: They can grind their own grains for spirits! How cool! They could have, until just recently. One of the owners, Ralph Erenzo, sold the property that has the mill and river:

Too bad — because the mill is how Ralph’s partner, Brian Lee, became interested in the distillery. He was a volunteer for many years at Philipsburg Manor, where he became the resident expert on milling.

Now he’s the resident expert on distilling. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of Brian (who lives in Suffern, by the way), but we’ll have plenty in the newspaper next week and when a segment airs about Tuthilltown on RNN.

But here’s Ralph, checking the still, which is in a building across the street from the gristmill.

The still:

After the booze is distilled (a long process, which we’ll explain briefly in the article), it goes into these wooden barrels to age:

See the little one? That’s one of the barrels they use for their “Baby Bourbon.” They say it’s the first bourbon ever to be produced in New York.

Here’s a photo of a bottle, which I bought at Piermont Fine Wines & Spirits (along with some wine I bought — please ignore that!)

I had a taste at the shop, and I quite like it. It’s expensive though — $40 for a .375. If you’re interested, though, get down there: owner Jung Kim only has four bottles left. (Though there are other retail outlets; check the Tuthilltown web site.)

This kind of craftsmanship is amazing to see in the Hudson Valley. And my favorite part? The relationship it builds among craftsman of all sorts: Brian has asked farmers to grow a special breed of corn for him; and when he’s done using the barrels, a local vinegar-maker buys them.

Stay tuned for more about Tuthilltown — we’re heading to Manhattan on Monday for the launch party at the Four Seasons!

Here’s another recipe I made last month when my freezer died. If you’re scrambling to use up food after a power outage, I hope it helps:

Barefoot Contessa’s Turkey Meatloaf

(This makes a ton. Half the recipe, depending on how much turkey you have.)

3 cups chopped yellow onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
5 pounds ground turkey
1 1/1 cups plain breadcrumbs
3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 325.
Saute onions in olive oil until translucent, about 15 minutes.
Add salt, lots of pepper, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock and tomato paste and mix well.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs and onion mixture in a large bowl.
Mix well and shape into a recatangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan.
Spread ketchup evenly on top.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 and the meatloaf is cooked through.
Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

In Wednesday’s paper, I have a story that details food safety precautions — especially important for people who may have lost power during the nor’easter. In it, I promised a recipe that would use up everything but the kitchen sink.

I happen to have such a recipe because about a month ago, my freezer quit. Luckily, I have an extra in the basement, so I got busy making these chicken pot pies and froze them again for later. Because I had so much stuff to use up, I doubled the recipe — which is adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook. If you have a smaller amount, you may certainly half the recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie

You may either make your own crust, or buy (or use up) frozen puff pastry.

First, make the crust
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1â?„2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons sugar
3 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Cut up the butter into very small pieces and place in the refrigerator or freezer while you work with the other ingredients.
Place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter pieces and pulse until mixture forms coarse small crumbs, about 10 to 15 seconds. Add 3 tablespoons ice water to the mixture and pulse. See if until dough comes together a bit and holds together when you pinch the dough between your fingers. If not, add up to 6 tablespoons. (It took me 5 this time.)
Dump the dough onto the counter and shape into a ball without over working the dough. Divide into 2 pieces and shape each into a flat round disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Yield: 2 pie crusts.

For the Pot Pie:
2 chicken breasts, bone on
1 to 2 pounds leftover shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 pound asparagus, woody ends removed
3 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
8 carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias
2 onions, diced
4 ribs celery, cleaned and sliced on the bias
2 leeks, cleaned and diced
1 pound mushrooms, quartered
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more if necessary
5 tablespoons flour, divided
Salt
Pepper
2 cups chicken broth, divided
1/4 cup brandy or dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken in a baking dish in a single layer. Pour the cream over the chicken and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

Remove the chicken from the cream, reserving the cream for the sauce. Once the chicken has cooled, cut it into 1-inch pieces.
If you have a whole chicken, or a package of thighs or breasts — just roast what you’ve got. The point is to use up your chicken.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. Cook the asparagus for 2 to 3 minutes until it is bright green. Using tongs, carefully remove the asparagus and place in the ice water. When it is cool, chop into bite-sized pieces.

Bring the asparagus water back to a boil and add a little more salt. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Then add a carrots and cook 5 to 10 minutes more, until both are fork tender. Drain and place in a bowl. You may discard the water.

Be sure all the rest of the ingredients are prepped: onions, celery, leeks, mushrooms and herbs are chopped.

Prepare two large saute pans. In one of them, melt the butter, then add the onions and the celery, salt them, and cook until translucent. Add the leeks and mushrooms, salt them, and cook until the mushrooms are darker in color.

Divide the onion mixture between the two pans. Add more butter to the second pan if necessary. Add half the flour to each pan (2 1/2 tablespoons each), stir and cook 5 minutes, but do not brown. Slowly add 1 cup of broth to each pan, whisking until the sauce smoothes out and thickens. Between the two pans, divide the cream, cognac, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper and cook 5 more minutes.

Between the two pans, divide the chicken breast meat, the shredded chicken, potatoes, carrots, asparagus, peas and corn and mix gently into the sauce. Pour mixture into a two 2 quart casseroles, a large soufflé dish, or large ramekins for individual pot pies.

Only bake one pie at a time.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out the pastry to fit and place over the dish or cut the pastry to fit the ramekins. Press down the pastry edges, folding them as necessary. Beat together the egg and water and brush over the top of the pastry to give a nice glossy finish to the crust. Cut a few steam vents in the pastry and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.

Yield: 2 large pies or 12 individual pot pies.

Last time, folks. Any guesses?

I’m not quite sure how you could have missed it, but, in case you have: I’m on a hunt for the best burger in Rockland. Even though I won’t reveal my reporting — you’ll have to wait for Rockland magazine before you know where I’ve been and what I loved (and didn’t) — I thought it might be fun for you all to check out the photos and take a guess. I’ll confirm and deny once the article is published.

This press release came across my desk today. Although the Wine Vault has been open for at least several months, they’re just getting around to celebrating:
GRAND OPENING OF THE WINE VAULT
Mamaroneck, NY- April 13, 2007

The Wine Vault (“Wine Storage at it’s Best�) is holding a Grand Opening party on Saturday, April 14th from 12:00PM until 8:00PM and Sunday, April 15th from 12:00PM until 6:00PM at their location at One Depot Plaza, Mamaroneck, NY, 914-835-WINE.

Mayor Philip Trifiletti and Village Manager Leonard Verrastro will be attending the ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, April 14th at 12:00PM. The Grand Opening is open to the general public both days. Wine and cheese will be served, gifts will be handed out to attendees and tours of the facility will take place.

The Wine Vault is a state-of-the-art storage facility with a private tasting lounge. The lounge is available for rent for private parties or special events.

Here’s a little tidbit from my foodnotes column, which comes out tomorrow in our entertainment section, The Line:

Who doesn’t love to toast a celebration with a glass of champers? That’s what owners Michael Vivolo and Carlo Colaianni figured — they decided to offer each guest at La Riserva Trattoria in Larchmont a free glass of bubbly throughout the month of April. The partners are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the restaurant, and it must have been a good run, because Colaianni is set to retire.
Vivolo, who is chef and shares the kitchen with sous chef Michael Arminio, will carry on the tradition with such signature dishes as baked clams, gorgonzola polenta and gnocchi piacentina — a potato pasta with a creamy meat sauce with sage. Other specialties include veal chop alla Griglia, grilled veal chop with mushrooms and roasted potatoes; Gamberoni in Guazzetto, jumbo shrimp in white wine with lemon, butter, capers and mushrooms; Pollo Piemontese, with portobello mushrooms and brandy sauce; and Veal Verbena, topped with asparagus and mozzarella cheese.
Yankee fans won’t want to miss Pollo Joe Torre, boneless chicken sauteed with sausage, potatoes and cherry peppers, named after the Yankees manager, who they say is a frequent visitor.
La Riserva Trattoria, 2382 Boston Post Road, Larchmont. 914-834-5584.

I hope you all caught Linda Lombroso’s excellent story last week about the pie competition the DiDonato family holds each Easter.

(Here’s a link in case you missed it.)

I promised an update on the winner, and the results just came back to us.

This, from Barbara Dallow, a granddaughter-in-law:

“Well, the competition was fiercer then usual at the home of Joanne and Anthony DiDonato to be the winner of the annual Easter Pie contest! Spurred on by the recognition bestowed upon the family by the write-up in the Journal News, the cooks outdid themselves this year. After the tastings were over and the palate-cleansing too (with some fine wine!), the judges declared the winners! Camille Hane and Ginger Marshall (Helen Di Donato’s daughters), and their families had made the best pie this year. 57 people were in attendance and 9 pies entered into the competition, so the victory was indeed sweet!
However, Christine Semenza already vows to win next year, saying, “I gave up the trophy to the best of the best…..but watch out next year�!
Another entrant claims to know where she went wrong in her cooking and can’t wait to try again.
To be sure, the musings of the losers, but in the end, we were all winners in that the whole family was together, celebrating a wonderful holiday and enjoying each other’s company.”
Congratulations to all the DiDonatos! You’re all winners in my book, too!

I’m still on the long road to finding the best burger in Rockland. We’re almost done with this, I promise. But it’s only fair to include everyone, right? Today we have three burgers — one place.

I’m not quite sure how you could have missed it, but, in case you have: I’m on a hunt for the best burger in Rockland. Even though I won’t reveal my reporting — you’ll have to wait for Rockland magazine before you know where I’ve been and what I loved (and didn’t) — I thought it might be fun for you all to check out the photos and take a guess. I’ll confirm and deny once the article is published.

Please keep the comments about this burger. If you’d like to let me know about other places for me to try, head on over here to the suggestion box.

Here ya go:

And — the bite shot:

I recently attended an open house hosted by Rainbeau Ridge Farm in Bedford. I’ve mentioned the goat cheese from Rainbeau Ridge before, but this is the first post dedicated to the farm entirely.

Lisa Schwartz, who owns the farm with her husband, Mark, has been making cheese for about five years — and if you’ve ever tasted it (in season, you can get it at Mount Kisco Seafood and the cafe at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, among other places), you know she’s very good at it. We got to taste the first batch of the season:

Not only does Lisa raise goats and grow vegetables (enough to feed 50-plus families), she also has programs open to the public. This kitchen, for example, has been host to cooking classes by local and nationally known chefs, from Jon Pratt of Peter Pratt’s Inn in Yorktown and Phil McGrath of Iron Horse Grill in Pleasantville to Michael Anthony (now of Gramercy Tavern) and Waldy Malouf of Beacon in Manhattan.

Lisa served amazing blintzes made with her goat cheese.

After a little breakfast, Lisa sat everyone down to talk about her mission:

Plenty of people talk about how important it is to know where your food comes from. But Lisa shows how important it is. She raises chickens for eggs; bees for honey and taps her maple trees for syrup.

And she does it in the suburbs, which is even more admirable. I mean, sure, she does have 35-acres — and that’s quite a luxury. But the workshops and classes she leads at Rainbeau Ridge teach people that even on a small plot of land, you can grow a few lettuce plants. With even more space, you could raise a few chickens.

She doesn’t expect that everyone is going to go out and raise goats (hi buddy!) —

— but she hopes that because she does it, people will better understand that there is a season for goat cheese. That cheese can taste different depending on where the goats are raised.

We visited just 24 hours after this little tyke was born:

Isn’t he amazing? (That’s Ron, one of the staff members.)

Here’s a closer look at the farm:

Lisa isn’t so crazy into “the movement” that she expects everyone to drop out of society and live like we’re in the 1800s (in fact, she admitted to having quite a few naughty snacks in her fridge). But she hopes that people will take a little more time to understand what it means to grow things, to cultivate not only land, but a community.

One of my favorite lines in Lisa’s speech: It’s not that we expect people to give up their SUVs. It’s just that we hope to teach them not to idle them.

Click here to visit the Rainbeau Ridge Farm web site.

While many of you are out shopping for Cadbury cream eggs and pastel jelly beans to fill Easter Baskets, consider this: At Dante’s Gourmet Deli in White Plains, someone bought a 30-pound chocolate egg imported from Italy.

“We were going to raffle it off,� Anthony Perrotta, the owner of Dante’s, told me. “But someone bought it first — for their granddaughter.�

The egg cost $268 and was completely made by hand. It’s not solid — inside there is a gift: a piece of jewelry, Anthony says, like a bracelet or a necklace.

Lucky girl!

But from what I can tell, just about anything you can buy at Dante’s should make anybody happy.

I had a panino made with speck — a type of Italian ham — broccoli rabe, mozzarella, roasted peppers and pesto, and it was — To. Die. For. Check it out:

And Anthony — who knew I was in the shop taking photos of the egg — threw in a taste of his homemade mozzarella, which is really a treat. I haven’t had mozz like that since Valente in Nyack closed several years ago.

There are lots of cool things at Dante’s, mostly because Anthony’s family has an import/export business in Genoa and makes sure he gets all the products that are popular in Italy, like a new pasta made from farro.

I was quite taken with the seed display.

Anthony used to be a CPA and his wife used to be a schoolteacher, but 10 years ago, they took over the place from two Italian couples (one of the men was named Dante) who had owned it for 30 years before that. (At least being a CPA he can do his own books, right?)

Check out some of the goods.

And they do the cooking from Anthony’s grandmother Louisa’s recipes.

Just during the time I was in there today for lunch, I noticed the great rapport Anthony has with his customers. Take this exchange, for instance:

“HI Antonio. I’ll have a couple of those stuffed mushrooms.�

“Great — how’s the little one?�

“Just great, thanks. And what’s in the stuffed peppers? Meat?�

“Yes, those have meat, but the mushrooms don’t — would you like a few more of those?�

“I already have enough of those, but I’ll use them tomorrow and the peppers for tonight.�

You know — like it’s totally normal to tell your deli guy your dinner plans for the week.

And this week is a busy one for Anthony. He’s got his Easter orders for leg of lamb, ravioli and fettucine (which he makes fresh in the store), lasagna and tons of antipasti. People order from as far away as Florida and North Carolina.

I’m just glad I’m not that far away.

Paul Garbuio, the former owner of Cafe Antico in Mount Kisco, has taken over the Cafe Meze space in Hartsdale formerly owned by the Livanos familly. He has renamed the restaurant Piave, and plans to serve contemporary Italian dishes, especially from the Veneto region — where the Piave river flows.
“It’s a spin-off on Cafe Antico with a twist,� he told me. “The twist being some new innovative dishes along with some of our old-time favorites.�
Two of those old favorites include a veal chop, pounded thin and breaded, then pan-sauteed and topped with wild arugula and tear drop-shaped Parmesan; and an entree called Bianco e Nero, which is black and white linguine tossed with Gulf shrimp and baby calamari and served with a spicy tomato-based lobster consomme.
Garbuio keeping the bones of the restaurant, but plans to do some sprucing up, including turning the center granite island into a antipasti bar. Not a buffet, but rather a display where diners may choose the imported cheeses, cured meats and raw bar they’d like for their first course, and then watch as waiters prepare their plates.
He’s also hoping to make the bar larger — Cafe Antico was known for its extensive martini list and he plans to keep that — and also make the entrance more welcoming.
Cafe Meze regulars will recognize some of the wait staff, says Garbuio, and the sous chef from Meze is also staying on.

He hopes to open the restaurant in early May.

Are you looking forward to it?

Are you sick of burgers yet? I have to admit … well … anyway, here’s lucky number 7. As a bonus round, I’m offering you three styles of burgers. This time, name both the place AND the burger!

Here we go:

Just in case anyone’s missed it before, here’s the dealio:

I’m on a hunt for the best burger in Rockland. Even though I won’t reveal my reporting — you’ll have to wait for Rockland magazine before you know where I’ve been and what I loved (and didn’t) — I thought it might be fun for you all to check out the photos and take a guess. I’ll confirm and deny once the article is published.

Please keep the comments about this burger. If you’d like to let me know about other places for me to try, head on over here to the suggestion box.